-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Panama has released 32 of 35 detained crew members of a North Korean ship that last year tried to cross the Panama Canal with weapons smuggled aboard , an official said Thursday .

Panamanian Attorney General Ana Belfon said that the 32 would be deported Cuba or to other countries .

The captain and two other officers of the cargo ship , the Chong Chon Gang , will continue to be held and face charges of arms smuggling , said Nathaniel Murgas , head prosecutor in organized crime .

Panama stopped the ship in July and authorities found undeclared weaponry from Cuba -- including MiG fighter jets , anti-aircraft systems and explosives -- buried under thousands of bags of sugar .

The Cuban government said the shipment consisted of `` obsolete '' weapons being sent to North Korea for repairs before being returned to Cuba . But Panama said they violated United Nations arms sanctions on North Korea .

Because it is pursuing nuclear weapons , North Korea is banned by the United Nations from importing and exporting most weapons .

Earlier this month , Panamanian authorities said that North Korea would pay a fine of more than half a million dollars for the ship 's release .

Authorities had originally imposed a $ 1 million fine on North Korea over the shipment , which they said violated the security of the canal , a key waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans .

That fine was reduced by a third to $ 666,666 , Panama 's Foreign Ministry said in a statement .

CNN 's Jethro Mullen contributed to this report .

@highlight

32 of 35 detained crew members are free to go , says Panama 's attorney general

@highlight

Prosecutor : The captain and two other officers face arms smuggling charges

@highlight

Panama says it found fighter jets , explosives aboard North Korean ship last year